Please be aware of the ramifications of surrendering your companion animal.

Sadly, animal shelters receive dozens of calls and emails every single day from pet owners attempting to give up their companion animals. Please be aware that government financed shelters are “open admission”, which means they take the animals but may euthanize if space is necessary. Not all shelters that claim to be no-kill are no-kill. Animals considered “unadoptable” by standards the shelter determines, be it for shyness, over-exuberance, aggression or treatable medical or behavioral reasons, may result in your pet being euthanized. A shelter is a stressful and traumatic experience for an animal resulting in behaviors that may cost it its life.

If you feel you must give up your pet, first ask every available friend, family member and neighbor to help you before turning to a shelter. Please consider all other options. Sometimes the situation is fixable. We can offer advice to help with a medical or behavioral issue or refer you to a trainer or other experts that may enable you to keep your pet. There is a place on the Owner Surrender Application where you can opt to speak with a trainer/specialist. Please check this box and we will have one of the trainers/specialists who work with us to help keep pets in the home contact you. You don’t have to solve the problem to live with it. Click here to see our suggestions for what may help you keep your family member in their home.

Satchel’s is a true no kill sanctuary that exists solely on private donor contributions. Animals live out their natural life here. We are truly an animal’s last resort, committed to helping our community and we are always at capacity with a significant number of both cats and dogs on our waitlist. When one is adopted, we take in another.

If you have no other alternative and wish to have Satchel’s consider adding your companion animal to our waitlist, please submit the Owner Surrender Application form below. Admission of your pet to Satchel’s will not be considered without a completed and submitted Owner Surrender Application Form. All applications are reviewed by a committee on a regular basis and we will get back to you if we are able to help in any way.